Phonics and Reading

At Larklands Infant and Nursery School, we believe that reading is essential for all subject areas and improves life chances.  Positive attitudes to reading and choosing to read have academic, social and emotional benefits for children.  We encourage all our children to see themselves as readers for both pleasure and purpose. They learn to read and read to learn. 

Phonics

In Phonics, we aim to teach the “Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised” scheme fully from September 2023. This is a complete systematic synthetic phonics programme (SSP) accredited by the DFE.  It is a fully comprehensive programme, starting in the Early Years and builds progressively through to the end of Year 1.  In Year 2, children consolidate prior learning until they become fluent readers.  It enables children to master phonics to be able to read and spell as they move through school.

Little Wandle Letters and Sounds incorporates ongoing daily assessments, as well as assessments at the end of every 6 weeks.  This helps to identify children who may be falling behind the pace of the programme.  If any child does fall behind, targeted support is given immediately through intervention.  This continues for those children in Year 2 who have not completed the programme.

All Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 children, have the opportunity to read fully decodable books that are carefully matched to their current reading level.  When hearing children read in school, we are checking their understanding of unfamiliar vocabulary, building fluency and developing comprehension skills.  Children read regularly in school in groups or one to one and books are sent home to support them in continuing their reading journey. 

Parents and carers have an important role in supporting children with their reading development.

• Have a positive impact on their child’s reading,
• Should model the importance of reading practice to develop fluency,
• Should support reading at home to encourage a love of books, along with developing vocabulary and discussion,
• Should use voices, expression, discuss unfamiliar vocabulary and predict what might happen next,
• Give positive feedback and celebrate their child’s success.

Our Reading and Poetry Spine

“Imagine a school where pupils enjoy, discuss and work with a core of books. These ‘essential reads’ would be a store of classics, creating a living library inside a child’s mind. This is the Reading Spine… a common bank of stories that bind the community together”

Pie Corbett

Reading for pleasure is known to have a significant impact on children’s attainment and life chances. We strive for every child to have a love of reading in our school and reading is central to everything that we do.

At Larklands Infant and Nursery School, we use Pie Corbett’s ‘reading and poetry spines’ for sharing with the children.  These carefully selected texts have been chosen to enrich the children’s experiences, nurture a love of reading and ultimately, bring enjoyment to the children from the start of Nursery to the end of Key Stage 1.   We enhance our reading spine throughout the year by introducing new books that link to different areas of learning.  This ensures that children are experiencing a breadth of books across the curriculum. Our reading spine will be reviewed each year and updated accordingly. 

Each year group has a set of core texts that ensures the children experience a range of high quality texts and authors during their time here. 

                     Nursery Reading Spine                            Nursery Poetry Spine

                   Reception Reading Spine                           Reception Poetry Spine

                                       Year 1 Reading Spine                                  Year 1 Poetry Spine

                                       Year 2 Reading Spine                                  Year 2 Poetry Spine